Data collected from 1986-1995 have been compiled to document the presence or
absence of 83 bird species at more than 1000 sample locations on the northern
half of the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF). Locational information was
linked to GIS data layers detailing microscale information such as community type
(forest types by age class) and ecological land type classifications. A
map for Solitary Vireo (53k) displays
point-count locations, highlighting Land Type Associations (LTA) as well as
detections.
Resultant habitat models can be used to
predict meso- or macroscale-level species diversity, and be examined
at differing scales of habitat classification.
GIS techniques are being used to quantify landscape-level
patterns, considering the composition and configuration of habitat units. The
relationships between bird species occurrence and these environmental variables
will be examined for each species. The resultant habitat models thereby consider the
responses of individual species to environmental variables over a range
of scales, enabling refined predictions of bird species diversity across the GMNF.